Getting His Money's Worth
by dfriendly
Summary: Morgana mans the kissing booth at a carnival held for charity and somehow wrangles Gwen and Arthur to kiss… all in the name of a good cause, of course. Modern AU. Written for a drabble prompt. ArthurxGwen.


**Title:** Getting His Money's Worth

**Fandom:** _Merlin_

**Rating:** T

**Characters/Pairings:** Arthur/Gwen, Morgana, Merlin

**Word Count:** 875

**Spoilers:** None

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Merlin_. All I possess is my adoration for it.

**Summary:** Morgana mans the kissing booth at a carnival held for charity and somehow wrangles Gwen and Arthur to kiss… all in the name of a good cause, of course. Modern AU.

**A/N:** Written for camelot_love's Drabble Tag: Round 1 on LJ. The prompt was "Arthur + Gwen + Kissing Booth."

Excuse the mistakes about Brit [currency] – not Brit-picked. ETA: After I posted, ruby_caspar kindly pointed out a mistake in currency & helped me fix it & some Brit-currency phrasing (like "tenners" instead of "tens"). Many thanks! Although still not _fully_ Brit-picked, so there might still be some errors.

And £1 is ~$1.50 USD for the Yanks like me or ~$1.65 AUD for my Aussie friends (depending on the day; as of Mar/Apr 2010)

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"Merlin! Arthur!"

Next to him, Merlin turned his head and waved.

"Well come here!"

Arthur and Merlin approached the counter, above which a sign advertised "A Pound a Pucker" with a big red outline of lips.

"Really, Morgana? A kissing booth?"

"It's all in good fun," she told Arthur before turning to his friend. "Fancy a kiss, Merlin?"

"I think I'm out," Merlin muttered, digging into his pockets and finding a single coin. "All I got is 50p. Unless Arthur spots me."

"I am not spotting you so you can kiss my step-sister, Merlin," Arthur said dryly.

Morgana held out her hand. "Well let's see what we can do with 50p, Merlin."

He pressed it into her palm, just to be caught by surprise with a kiss to his cheek. Merlin's ears went promptly pink.

Morgana spun around to drop the coin in the glass jar of money behind her before turning back toward Arthur.

"What about you?"

"Gross, Morgana."

"I don't mean _me_, you idiot," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Gwen's here on break from the ring toss stand."

"I hear my name?" came a shout from the back.

"Gwen, come here!"

"Morgana, I don't know –"

"It's for the starving children of Africa, Arthur," Morgana said in mock incredulity.

"Yeah?"

"Arthur's here for a kiss, Gwen."

"Sorry?"

"I never said –!"

"Well, it'd be weird if _I_ gave it to him."

"Morgana!"

"Morgana, my break's over in five…" Gwen whispered as a lame excuse. Arthur could hardly blame her – this was certainly awkward.

"This won't take long."

"But –"

"Starving children in Af-ri-ca…" Morgana said in a sing-songy tone. She gave Gwen a little push so that she stood right in front of Arthur.

He cleared his throat, afraid to look Gwen fully in the eye.

"Well, pay up. You don't get to kiss her for free."

Arthur shot Morgana a menacing look as he took some crumpled notes and a couple coins out of his pocket and put a pound on the counter. She was _way_ too pleased about this.

And then he looked back at Gwen, who offered a nervous smile. He leaned down, hesitating just a moment before actually connecting. She pressed against him a little, before ending the kiss a bit sooner than he might have liked… but it had still been longer than he had actually planned.

Arthur was pretty sure he had a stupid, dazed look on his face when they broke apart. And Gwen didn't look quite herself either. She had a touch of blush and glanced down at the counter between them, making Arthur wonder if his own face was turning red.

"How about another go?"

Both their heads snapped to Morgana.

"For the children, of course," she said in near seriousness.

Gwen bit her lip, glancing at him nervously.

"Uh, sure," Arthur answered, his voice a bit strange. "It's for a good cause."

He fished out another pound to hand to Morgana.

Gwen stepped forward until she was up against the counter and her gaze on him was a bit steadier, both which Arthur took as good signs. He looked at her mouth and wet his lips before kissing her again.

This time, Arthur felt a bit more focused, aware that this was not just some absurd daydream but _actually happening_. He felt how soft and smooth her lips were, yet firm against his own. He opened his mouth a little and moved to her upper lip, his own bottom lip being caught between hers. She sucked on it lightly for just a moment, giving him the courage to tease the tip of his tongue over her top lip. At that she gave a quiet gasp, which he felt more than heard. It took all he had to pull back from her.

Now both their faces were definitely flushed. And Gwen seemed a bit breathless, if he did say so himself. Her eyes searched his face, confused and amazed like he was. And unless he was seriously mistaken, she wanted more. As did he.

Barely taking his eyes off her, he thumbed through his money. He'd used both his pound coins; all he had left were tenners. Without a second thought, he put a ten pound note on the counter.

Arthur placed his hands on the counter for leverage, bringing him down to her height. There was no hesitance this time before kissing her. Both their mouths were open; he could feel her breath tickle his senses. He angled his mouth, softly licking her lip like before. He could feel her shiver as she pressed more firmly against him. Her mouth opened further for him, just as he hoped. He found her tongue with his and she met him readily, stroking, sliding, circling. So he leaned into her…

Someone cleared their throat loudly – Merlin, he thought – causing them to break apart.

He exhaled, trying to regain normal breathing as he looked at her. Her bottom lip pushed out while she held her mouth apart, as if not sure what to say.

"You want change for that?" Morgana's voice asked somewhere in the distance. He vaguely registered the flabbergasted looks on her and Merlin's faces.

He kept his eye on Gwen, unable to suppress a stupid smile.

"Keep it."


End file.
